CINCINNATI – Led by junior Shatyra Hawkes with a career-high 24 points, the Xavier women’s basketball team soared past the visiting Morehead State Eagles, 73-58, Wednesday night at Cintas Center. Hawkes was the game’s leading scorer and grabbed a season-high six rebounds.
Also for Xavier (3-1), sophomore Lakeisha Crouch scored a career-high 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and tallied three steals on the night. Senior Amber Gray and junior Ashley Wanninger chipped in nine points apiece.
As a team, Xavier shot 49.0 percent from the floor to Morehead State’s (1-3) 32.1 percent. MSU’s bench scored 34 points to XU’s 15 bench points but the Musketeers dominated the paint, scoring 36 inside the key to the Eagles’ 16.
The Musketeers took advantage of an Eagle scoring drought six minutes into the second half and rattled off 11-straight points for their largest lead of the game, 54-31. Morehead State cut it to 11, 64-53, after scoring seven straight but would get no closer. XU made seven of eight free throws down the stretch and ended the game with the 15-point margin, 73-58.
After opening the game with an 11-0 run, the Musketeers let the Eagles back in the game giving up 13 of the next 15 points scored. Facing a 13-13 tie, Hawkes stopped the MSU run with a fast-break layup to give XU the 15-13 advantage. Xavier used an 11-2 run fueled by seven points from Hawkes to stretch its lead to 24-15 and never looked back.
The Eagles were led by Terrice Robinson with 16 points and Casey Ryans with 12 points and four rebounds.
The Musketeers return to action after the holiday break on Sunday with a match-up against No. 4 Duke. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at Cintas Center.
NOTE: Xavier has gone 131-7 over the last 11 seasons when scoring 70 or more points, including all three wins this season.
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